I move towards her, and she glances in my direction. And smirks.
Rory follows after me, and she doesn’t seem to mind my tag-along.
I don’t know Storm well. But I know she’s like me. She doesn’t want long drawn out explanations, and she’s short on time and patience.
“I need your help,” I tell her.
She smiles at me, like she was expecting me to say something like that, before she tilts her head to the side and examines Rory.
“What’s in it for me?”
“You get to fuck up a couple of rich guys,” I offer. “But we’re not talking catch and release this time.”
She’s still looking at Rory- still sucking on her lollipop- and it’s pissing me the fuck off now.
“How about you let me play with this toy?” she asks.
“How about I shove that goddamn sucker down your throat until you choke on it?”
Rory wraps his palm around the nape of my neck. A possessive gesture, and also a calming one. He wants me to be cool, and this is his way of telling me Storm is not a threat.
This toy is always going to be mine, and I’m not willing to share him. Not anymore. Not ever.
“I guess I can help you,” Storm says with a dainty shrug of her shoulder. “Not like I have anything better to do.”
“Tomorrow afternoon.” I slip her the card for the hotel room. “Don’t be late.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she says, eyeing Rory again.
She licks her lips and smiles, tossing him a wink. And it hits me, what she’s trying to do.
She’s testing him.
To see if he’s a cheater.
Like the men she destroys.
“He’s not,” I answer her unspoken question.
She looks at me and smiles again.
“I like to make up my own mind about that.”
Thirty-Seven
Rory
IbringScarlett home and tell her I have some work to do.
She doesn’t argue because she’s tired.
Defeated.
I question again if this is the right thing. Allowing her to do this.
But when I see her studying the file again at the kitchen table, I know that it is.
Scarlett will never be able to move forward with her life until she feels safe. Words mean nothing to her.
